Generator Rex: Crisis Consortium (Cancelled)
by DraftsmanFive
Summary: UPDATE: This series is being retconned in favor of "Evo's End". This story will remain here for the sake of reflection, but is no longer being updated and has no ties to "Evo's End".
1. What a Beautiful New Day

It was Midday.

The atmosphere was completely calm a sparkling azure without the slightest intimation of clouds or jetstreams to disturb its pristine nature. At that hour, the sun was present directly above the urban city as it casted its rays down on the towering buildings and the accompanying avenues. No person could escape the reach of the star's warm embrace, and so, alongside the serenity of the living blue sky, it had seemed that all of the conditions were set up so immaculately that the people couldn't escape the idea of a peaceful life as they traversed through the sidewalks, streets, and subway systems all the same.

It was a welcome change not having to go about their lives living in fear or having to anticipate some sort of disturbance that was sure to end life as they knew it. And they relished the opportunity to feel that way, as after a bit over six long years, the dreaded Nanite Event had finally come to an end.

It had only been two months since then, on "The Day That Everything Changed" as the world had came to call it. Though the title was once reserved for the fateful day it had all begun, it had been appropriated for its end since there were few who wished to acknowledge the six years of hardship that was endured. But even if the world would never be able to bury that period of time in the past, they could begin reconstructing what they had lost in order to move forward once again.

But it wasn't an easy job making the transition, as even though Evos were no longer a concern in the new world, there still remained those who sought to take advantage of the society's frail state and wreak havoc on all who couldn't defend themselves.

At least, such was the mentality shared by those like the deranged madman who was piloting a large mech through the interior of the city. Though such events were not nearly as common as the previously rampant Evo occurrences, they were still far more common than they were before the event had begun. Perhaps Nanites messed with the chemicals in some individuals brains, who knew for certain? But regardless of whatever compelled such criminals to perform such actions, there would be no rest for the wicked for there would always be that one organization that would be sure to seek justice for their actions when no one else could:

And the name was that of Providence, the group responsible for the conclusion of the Nanite Event.

The large mech was trapezing through the city, its simple frame maneuvering around through the usage of the eight tentacle-like appendages that were four-and-four on its left and right sides. Windows shattered and glass shards peppered the ground below as the arms penetrated building walls, cries of horror audibly heard on the ground and inside of the buildings as office spaces were violated and people nearly skewered by any of the eight metal arms.

Thankfully the limbs themselves were not inflicting any serious damage to the supporting frame of any of the structures it crashed into, but it didn't seem that was the goal of the machine nor its pilot who was muttering various Russian phrases beneath his breath, in an effort to recall how to control the device he had put in storage for so long; Instead, it seemed that the moment the nightmare inducing frame had backed out of a large semi-truck only a minute prior, its objective was to reach a specific destination which was presumably the high rise tower it was currently heading towards.

It was an enterprise building which housed the headquarters for a major energy distribution company that delved in nuclear operations, and at the penthouse suite the meeting room for its board of directors who were all present in a conference which would entail the company's future involvement with restoration efforts around the globe. The pilot's intentions with the group were unknown, but if he really planned to proceed towards the group in such a matter, it could be possible that some blood was intended to be shed.

He certainly wished there were a less obvious way to go about the process, such as with the traditional Dragunov sniper rifle, or even by simply infiltrating the building and mowing them all down with an automatic rifle. As a matter of fact, just a week prior his intentions were to go with the latter plan up until the company had suddenly and unexpectedly integrated a major upgrade to their security measures which had included but was not limited to an increase in security guards, active cameras, and police patrols all around the block. No doubt the company was anticipating some form of espionage or attack, so the unplanned for precautions had become major obstacle in his plan.

And so, he decided to go with the giant-death-machine route since it was the only alternative he had left, lest he sought to fail the orders of their superiors. But the former KGB member understood his line of work well, and knew that if he had even attempted to defect on an assignment after payment from his employers, even if complications should arise...To put it simply, he would see the mission through at all costs. Even if the likes of Providence were to get involved and it seemed they already were.

Hearing the patter of light artillery strike his contraption at the side after landing on the face of another building, he put the pause on chase and continued to cling onto the apartment complex. Rotating the main body of the mech, he glanced down to see that there were already two providence tanks that were on his pursuit many stories below, machine guns fashioned on top of the roofs and a pair of agents firing their rounds at him.

" Cyka Blyat! " He swore in his mother tongue, not anticipating the deployment speed of Providence to be so remarkably swift!  
"No, no...Providence could not have known about this in advance, and not so quickly either...It is bad luck they happened to be on same route as truck, but it will not matter once I take care of them!"

Thrusting the joystick rig forward, the Russian and the mech dropped from the dozen story elevation right onto one of the tanks. Both of the gunners saw the quickly approaching hazard and hastily retreated within their tanks, and with a massive crash, the roof of one tank indented several meters inwards before being promptly torn open by the several tentacles the mech had at its disposable.

"He's tearing the other tank apart! What do we do Skwydd!?" The masked agent called out to the driver maneuvering the tank.

"Damn if I know, Tuck!" The masculine sounding voice replied.  
"These tanks are obviously not equipped to deal with this sort of situation! Have you gotten Kenwyn on the line yet? She should've picked up by now!"

"We'll have to worry about that later!" A third, feminine voice intervened. "Let's see if we can at least get his attention away from them! Hit the gas, now!"

Realizing the futility of any other plan that had involved staying behind to help their allies who were at the mercy of the dedicated mercenary, the second tank accelerated and made off in the opposite direction. Not wanting any obstacles to be in his path later on, the Russian ceased separating the roof and hopped off of the tank, galavanting between the walls of buildings to keep up with the group that was attempting to make an escape.

From the top of the retreating tank Tuck reappeared and pointed the artillery gun back at the mech. Looking back at the other vehicle he was able to see several of his comrades crawl out, and while they were most definitely injured, it had fortunately seemed that the wounds were nothing grave and that everybody was alive and breathing Which was more than he could say about his own group at that moment, with the death-machine right on their trail and with an intent to kill.

Thousands of feet above the buildings, a jump-jet careened through the sky as it gradually approached city. The intercom system flared to life, the alarm sounding off for a fraction of a second until the pilot clicked a button and allowed the transmission to go through.

"This is codename Ace speaking, what's your current status?" Questioned the commander as she began her descent to a decent street to land in.

"Kenwyn? About time you picked up!" Cricket sounded over the noise of screeching tires and ammunition being unloaded on the mech right behind them. What's going on with the communications? Are they busted again?" She involuntarily yelped as a tentacle took hold of the tank for a second, losing its grip with Skwydd swerving the vehicle sharply to the right.

"Sorry Cricket, it seems we're experiencing some technical difficulties as usual! But more on that later, right now it seems that you guys are leading some sort of tentacle-bot through the city. What's the story?"

"We've got a Class-2 Situation on our hands here, and it's the same madman we've apprehended two months ago! It seems that he somehow escaped from custody, and now he's using an altered version of his original mech to infiltrate the NuCorp's executive building!"

Kenwyn's eyes widened as she pieced together the purpose of the mercenary within the mech. "And today's the day their board decides where they're going to launch their energy contribution efforts. He's planning on wiping them out for some reason or another, and right now you're the only thing standing in his way!"

"I'm not sure for how much longer, though!" Cried out Tuck as the mounted weapon stopped raining bullets. He jumped back within the tank and addressed Kenwyn personally.  
"What's your ETA? If we don't get backup within the next minute, we're probably dead!"

"Definitely dead!" Corrected Skwydd, who took another sharp turn to the left to avoid being pounced on.

"We're just a few minutes away! Are you sure you can't stall any longer?"

"We've already been at this for 10 minutes!"

Kenwyn scowled to herself. "Bobo's tank should be intercepting you soon, and then I'll be there not long after that!" She pressured as she sped up the descent to unsafe speeds, tilting the ship to the furthest it was physically capable without entering an unrecoverable stall.

"Not enough time for that, Kenwyn. I'm gonna have to drop." Kenwyn's heart stopped when she heard the voice and what came next. The sounds of mechanical whirring could be heard for a moment, and shortly after, the back hatch to the jet reeled back into the body of the jet without the pilot's command. The rushing sounds of the wind whistled throughout the interior, rendering all of the messages transmitted through the radio unintelligible.

The agent stood before the exposed section, the wind whipping at his sports jacket while he leaned one hand on the side of the ship, the other one busy bringing down his signature goggles over his face.

"Rex! Whatever crazy plan you're thinking of, un-think it!" She desperately shouted over the intense gusts.  
"You can't just jumping out of airships whenever you feel like it! We have a procedure to follow!"

"With all due respect Kenywyn, I'm not gonna let procedure get in the way of me helping my friends." He yelled, preparing to jump ship without a moment's hesitation.

Kenwyn scowled as she tightened her grip on the joysticks. "Then hold on for a second, I'm gonna get you in line with the mech! Once you get off, you should crash into him by the time you reach the ground." Kenwyn began doing a corkscrew like maneuver in the counterclockwise direction in order to be directly above the rampaging robot. Leveling the jet perfectly horizontal to the ground, she sounded off one final time to Rex.

"Rex, just know that I'm gonna have to file this against you in the report!" She warned him while glancing back in order to make eye contact temporarily. He looked right back at her in response, a grin plastered to his face as he said:

"Thrill me."

And with the final word in, he stepped backwards off of the jet and began free falling towards the earth, angling his body like a hawk preparing to devour its prey. After locking on to where he would intercept with the mech, he spread his arms outwards and allowed his nanites to do their task. Blue strains of light spread across his arms as the nanomachines were given their new set of directions. Fading away as quickly as they appeared, mechanical components began to surround his upper limbs, interlocking with each other as they expanded and gave form. Mechanical whirrs were heard with various gears and plates rotating into assembly, and with a final clang, two giant mechanical fists were formed in their place.

Whipping his dominant arm behind him and the other off to the side, he positioned himself to take the perfect stance to collide with the mech in 3...2...1...


	2. Falling From the Sky

The clash resonated in the air with Rex's impact against the metal frame.

The force of the collision caused the Russian contraption to forcefully tear through the asphalt of the city street for nearly a block's length before pinning all but one of its appendages into the ground like stakes, leaving the one free arm to throw Rex off. The teenage robot rebounded off of the robot before the tentacle could reach him, but did not expect for the mech to use the same arm to pin itself right before his feet. Using the point as an axis of rotation, the mercenary used the momentum of the robot's chassis to collide into Rex and send him careening into the air.

Launched towards a building with the speed of a bullet, Rex withdrew his Smack Hands in exchange for one of the Omega builds a glowing hoverboard aptly named the Sky Slyder to turn his force against his opponent. Performing a maneuver similar to the one Kenwyn had with the jet just moments ago, Rex glided through the air and and aligned his trajectory as he urged his build to shift one speed higher. He drew out his B.F.S to perform the finishing strike, the heavy blade causing sparks to fly as it drudged across the surface of the street. It wasn't long until Rex finally caught up with the dazed mercenary, who barely had a chance to command the mech off the ground before Rex had swung his weapon and made contact with the massive heap of metal.

A harsh grating noise was emitted while the sword tore through the frame, sparks flying off while several panels and wiring of the robot were sheared and torn in half. The slice took no more than a second and Rex appeared on the other side ceremoniously, stopping his movement with the technique of a snowboarder. Recalling the sword only, he hovered in place as he took off his goggles and glanced back at the machine to see its newly exposed top. Peering within the cockpit it seemed that the cut went right above the Russian, just as he had calculated.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, chastising himself for allowing his adrenaline to blind his guidance so. In spur of the moment, he had became oblivious to the fact that he was facing another human and that his attacks would actually be lethal to whoever was on the receiving end. He had to readjust the angle of his strike at the last moment possible in order to avoid being responsible for the mercenary's mortality, but unfortunately that action had come at the cost of the mech's continued functionality as even though it was the recipient to such a devastating blow, it was only directed to the upper portion and thus had not majorly impaired its usefulness.

Rex's attention seemed to be entirely focused on the man within the mech, eyeing him all over to ensure that no harm was done until his line of concentration was broke by Kenwyn's voice which finally broke through the transmission, her voice blaring at an incredible volume.  
"Rex? Rex! Did you get what I said!" She questioned through the communicator, which Rex detached and held a a foot away from his head while the ring lingered on in his ear.

"Didn't before, but I'm hearing you loud and clear now. You wouldn't happen to be shouting on the other end, right Kenwyn?" He groaned.

"Sorry, none of this junk works properly anymore..." Kenwyn said with a whisper, suddenly recalling just how sensitive their faulty equipment was.  
"But listen Rex, you've got to stop using your machines against that mech pilot!" She commanded right as the nightmarish frame began picking itself back up. It was a slow process as the control scheme was slightly unresponsive due to the dislocation of several pivotal components, but the mercenary was quick to adjust and was rapidly re-configuring the dashboard in order re-calibrate the system.

"Yeah, that might be a problem. He's already picking himself back up, and I have this feeling that he's not too happy with me right about now." Rex stated as the mech rose back up, already beginning to charge straight towards him. He willed his board to speed up once again and decided to lead the Russian on a chase. Though he was itching to fabricate another build and complete his job right then and there, he was willing to listen to whatever reason it was that prevented him from doing so.

"Just stall for time. I can get Bobo and the rest to rendezvous with you a couple of streets down since they're not that far away, but we can't chance you using your machines against another person. This is the third time you've used your builds on a mission these past two months, and you're still so much more powerful than anyone you're up against!"

"I know what restraint is Kenwyn, he'd already be dead if I didn't! You know I'm trying my best to hold back." He shouted over the winds while dodging the multiple arms that tried to piece him.

"But it's still not enough. We don't know why, but your powers have only been getting stronger and you just haven't had enough time to control your limits. Just let the rest of us take care of this. Please Rex."

He contemplated on her words while fighting against the temptation of falling back and, just for one moment, landing one solid hit to incapacitate the Russian. But he began considering the intentions of the young woman who was assigned as his commander, and eventually, caved in to her influence.

"...Fine." He begrudgingly sighed, not having the energy or reasoning to argue otherwise. It was true that his machines have gotten stronger as of recently: much more responsive, much more accurate, much more fast, and much, much more powerful...but in the end, all of those factors seemed to be more of a detriment since his abilities had thus become far too deadly to use on any other person. Rex understood this well, but refused to admit he didn't have full control over the abilities after nearly a full year of using them. He refused to sit on the sidelines while all of his friends were constantly put at risk dealing with threats that were far greater than common man, because he couldn't bear the though of losing them. Without them he was nothing. Isolated. Lost.

Alone.

Rex suddenly began to feel the internals of his Sky Slyder become weak, chastising himself for losing focus while commanding himself to keep it together. The board stabilized itself, but required Rex to reassure himself about the capability of his friends whom he was seriously undermining. It seemed that he had simply forgotten about how they survived on the streets all on their own for years on end, faced off against elite military organizations and gangs, broke free from the influence of mind control, and ultimately contributed to bringing the Nanite Event to a permanent end! Truthfully speaking, Rex's concern was unwarranted. Although it was natural for him to feel protective towards his friends, he knew he had to place their trust in him after all they've gone through. He couldn't let his emotions misguide him so!

With a reinvigorated spirit and a clear mind, he cracked a smirk as he put back on his goggles and shifted the build another speed higher to keep ahead of the mangled mech.

A Providence tank weaved between multiple lanes of incoming traffic in scramble to reach the rendezvous point as quickly as possible. Though most of the cars were able to swerve out of the way before colliding with the tank, some weren't entirely successful but thankfully had not suffered any sort of irreparable damage. The Providence issued vehicle itself had inflicted a fair amount of damage and received a portion of it back in collateral, it being nothing short of a miracle that the refurbished tank was able to venture as far as it had already.

"Maybe this is a bad time to bring it up Bobo, but are you aware that you're driving on the completely wrong side of the road!?" Noah shouted at the monkey as he narrowly dodged another car, sending Noah crashing into the opposite wall of the tank.

"Whoops. Sorry about that Chief," he unapologetically taunted as he grinned back at the blonde teenager. "Ye should really be buckled in, ya know. It's dangerous to go drivin' without the proper safety precautions."

"Oh, that's real funny." Noah growled as he was slammed into the opposite wall yet again. For some reason unbeknownst to himself, the only seats that were present in the entirety of Bobo's tank were the two that were in the front, and though the passenger seat next to Bobo was vacant, it's seat cushion was spotted with a splotch of some mysterious white substance that was yet to have been identified.

"Oh fer the love of stop bein' so immature! I'm tellin' ya, it's just ranch! Who doesn't eat their tacos without some ranch?"

"Who the hell eats their tacos with ranch!" He screeched back at the chimp, clinging onto the rails inside of the tank as it took another sharp turn to the right.

"We can argue semantics 'nother time." The sighed while shaking his head. "But we can't change course, the killer robot is only a few blocks away from us now, and we ain't about to lose 'em!" He stated with a viscous smile while shifting his weight on the pedal. Before Noah had the chance to object to the simian's recklessness, the buzz of a call was emitted by the tank's communication system. He pressed a button on the panel to hail the caller who was none other than their commander, Kenywyn, asking for their ETA.

"Bobo says we're closing in, right now we're only a couple dozen blocks away!" Noah chimed.

"What! You two are supposed to be less than a few streets away, and now you mean to tell me you're not even a block within range! What's taking so long?" Noah pieced together through the heavy static and several interruptions.

"It's the tank! It was practically falling apart when we tried starting it up this morning, and it wasn't doing that much better once we were out on patrol. I honestly have no idea how we're still afloat!"

"You can't expect the Kong trio to take on the mech on their own! They need support!" She said overhead, watching as the aforementioned group gradually caught up with Rex and the machine.

"Then why don't you just let Rex to take care of this? He could take care of this situation a lot faster than we could!"

"That's a negative, Nixon! We need that suspect alive and Rex is far too powerful to deal with him in a delicate manner!" Her pupils shook and she began biting at her lip after the fram leaped forward and took a swipe at Rex's build, with one of the tentacles pierce through a portion of Rex's hoverboard. He swiftly regenerated the missing piece, but being no more than a few feet away from his opponent at any given moment, he was in desperate need of backup or lest he be forced to retaliate.

"Are you sure you can't go any faster? At any given moment a confrontation could break loose! We need you here!" She pleaded.

"Sorry Kenwyn, but you're just gonna have to think of another plan for now! We go any faster an we're going to end up ramming into people! I mean into more people! Over people!"

"And as fun as that'd be, I don't want to be the one to clean up the mess afterwards!" Bobo added cynically.

"Dammit!" She managed to growl before shutting of communications. With one hand clutching the joysticks in a vice grip, her other hand was free to sink into her hair unkempt hair. She began brainstorming alternatives to her plan, but her mind only drew blank as she perused her mind for every single procedure there was.

"Kenwyn! Are you alright, Kenwyn? He's gonna tear Rex apart, what do we do!" Another voice broke through in her state of paranoia, causing her to promptly answer in desperation.

"Skwydd, is that you? I I don't know. We can't have Rex engage at the cost of a suspect, but we can't have you three become involved without backup at the risk of getting seriously hurt!"

"So where is Noah and Bobo at?! The both of our tanks should be able to flank the bastard!"

"They aren't going to be there in time!" She clamored.

"Come on Kenwyn, I know you can figure something out!" Skwydd tried reassuring her,  
"Are you sure we have nobody else on the sideline?"

She began staring blankly down at the city below, watching Rex beginning struggle to keep ahead of the mech despite its damaged state. Even at her elevated altitude could she see the agent's fatigue as his hoverboard began swaying side to side, unable to regenerate his vehicle faster than the barrage of tentacles tore it apart. She withdrew coolly before closing her eyes tightly. After a couple of short, calculated breaths, she aimed her sights on the mech below and pressed her finger back on the communications button.

"If I get closer I should be able to provide supporting fire. I'll draw his attention long enough for Noah and Bobo to show up, and then you guys can take it from there." She commanded confidently.

"Kenwyn, are you crazy!" Cricket cried before Skwydd, Tuck, Noah, or Bobo had a chance to respond, everybody else simply awestruck at the audacity of her suggestion.  
"You can't get in that close to the buildings, there's hardly enough room for you to maneuver in! We just have to call our losses and let Rex do his thing, there's still a good chance he won't accidentally kill him!" She shakily attempted to convince.

"Yea, think about what your doin' 'ere!" Bobo intervened,  
"White Knight's gonna have your head if you do this!" It was rare that Haha attempted to be the voice of reason, so when he did choose to take up a mantle of responsibility, everyone else knew the situation was astray.

Kenwyn was listening to her friends advice, but refused to head their pleas and simply tightened her dominant hand around the joystick configuration with a vice grip, her eyebrows furrowed down with intensity as she began visualizing her path down.

"Rex, keep going down that path. And whatever you do, don't slow down! To hell with procedure!" She shouted as she tore her free hand away from the communication device and straight into the other joystick. Pushing down with all of her might, the jet dove down at a sharp incline as far as it could go without entering a stall. Within seconds she dropped to street level and was flying in-between buildings, and with the flick of two switches on top of the joysticks, she pressed on the buttons underneath and let the volley of bullets rain down on the backside of the mech.

It had an immediate effect on the Russian, who was alarmed by the sudden assault and ceased his attack on Rex to determine the location of his sudden aggressor.

"Kenwyn, what do you think you're doing?" Rex shrieked at his commander, so loud that she may have possibly heard him from the jet without the aid of the communication line. In the background of the intermission there was the whooping of the other group members cheering Kenwyn on, applauding her for daring maneuvering ability and resourcefulness.  
"You said I can't touch him and now you're firing bullets at him? How is this helping the situation?"

"By kicking ass, that's how!" Tuck giddily squealed as a firsthand spectator of the scene, his tank only a few meters behind the entire confrontation. Kenwyn rolled her eyes in response, preparing to give her explanation to Rex which she was sure he was glad to hear.

"It's not like I planned to engage him in the first place, I'm just stalling! He's off of your tail for the moment, and now he's trying to figure out where I am. But I doubt he'll be able to figure out that I'm flying a jet behind him." She detailed while alternating fire, shooting from multiple angles to keep up the confusion.  
"Noah, Bobo, how much further are you two now?"

"Funny you mention it Chief. Look up."

All of the members of the group followed Bobo's command, and witnessed the refurbished Providence tank on a bridge adjacent to the street they were on a street above. The tank steered to the left in preparation, and then suddenly veered off to the right as it rammed through the bridge's railings and right into the fray.

"The Calvary's here." Bobo snidely remarked while Noah desperately clung onto the rails for dear life, appearing mortified until he finally gave in and jumped to the seat next to the driver, quickly fastening the seat belt as he sunk into the chair with a stiff spine.  
"Oh, and now that 'tcha here, mind turnin' on the weapons?"

Noah mechanically engaged the anti-vehicle system and began locking onto the mech.  
"Weapons engaged." He whimpered.

Kenwyn grinned to herself as everything began falling into place. The Russian adopted an opposite countenance the moment Bobo's tanked entered the scene. He was quick to catch on the presence of a second Providence vehicle, but was still yet to understand who could have possibly fired upon him in so many angles. He was beginning to lose both his patience and his mind, feeling the possibility of a failed assignment becoming more imminent than ever. His eyes began stinging as he drew in sharp, broken breaths, unable to comprehend the reality of letting down his employers. Not in his many years of service, and certainly not to the like of Providence after having witnessed all of their failures and mishaps over the years, even if they were the ones responsible for ending the Nanite Event!

He growled with discontentment one final time, but after allowing for a moment to pass with his eyes tightened, he reopened them and felt a wave of serenity pass over him, his troubles past him and his fears eliminated entirely. Regaining his composure similarly to the manner Kenwyn had, he pulled a flip-phone from out of his pocket and made a call that picked up after exactly three rings.

"Hello. Is this Van Kliess? No? I see. Then be sure to pass message along to him, little girl. Mission is failed, Providence interfered. Tell him he can contact the pirate. He no longer will need my services."  
He ended the call and tossed out the phone before the recipient had the chance to respond to the latter half, and drawing one last breath, he diverted his attention away from Rex entirely and glanced back at the three vehicles behind him.

"He's on to you now, Kenwyn, but he's stopped hitting me entirely. I think he's picked up on this situation." Rex cheerfully boasted.

"This certainly isn't how I planned for this to go down, but it's working out so far. Noah, Bobo, it seems we may not have needed your help after all. Stay armed but hold your fire, I'm going to see if I can negotiate with him now." Kenwyn's command was responded by a crowd of applause save for the Pania Pan that grumbled something about never getting to try out the big guns.

The cockpit of the mech rotated around while keeping its forward momentum, the Russian facing directly toward Kenwyn with his arms raised as she turned on the Jet's microphone system and began communicating with him. His eyes envisioned death, but he made no action, contemplating on his next course of action, and considering all of the life decisions he had made up to that point.

"Alright, don't try any sudden moves " Kenwyn began to command right before she was cut off. In the blink of an eye, the mech pilot slammed his hands back down launched the contraption toward her jet several meters into the air, and within a second there was a collision and both of the vehicles violently impacted each other in an explosion.

/NOTES

It's been a while. Funny how life keeps us all busy. Anyway, I temporarily lost interest in this piece (blame Miraculous Ladybug), but fear not! I have returned once again and I am now 100% dedicated to finishing what I have started.

But let's be honest: It might even take a couple of years, if you want to stick around that long.  
I finished the second half of this chapter in about an hour, so please tell me if anything seems askew in the writing department. I really want to do right by the people remaining in this community. And speaking of which, if you'd like to see more GenRex content, I have a DA account by the same name where I post related art occasionally. I'd be willing to do more if requested, but once I find the time.

And sidenote, why are 's title lengths so restrictive? Sigh, oh well.


	3. Safe and Sound

The Combustion consumed them both. He was the kamikaze, and she was the target.

Though the exchange itself occurred in a mere instant, the aftermath of the detonation lingered on for so much longer in an atmosphere of sheer apprehension. Time itself seemed to slur to an absolute halt, and the attention of all the agents was directed exclusively toward the blaze that was ahead of them—Rex a witness so near to the immolation that he could even feel the intensity of the scalding heat penetrate past the barricade of his hastily deployed 「Block Party」. Collevtively, the agents' widening eyes began to well up with tears as they hopelessly watched the spectacle, no member more sure on whether it was caused by the great luminosity of the flames or because of the loss of someone they were so close to.

The moment continued to hang in suspension within the minds of all the agents, who were all still struggling to comprehend the event that had just occurred in their own ways.

Skwydd felt a cry of pain develop as from a growl deep within the back of his throat, but nothing was heard.

Cricket tried to reach out for her friend engulfed by the fire, but nothing was held.

Tuck covered his ears attempting to block out the deafening roar, but nothing was muted.

Bobo dared to look another direction in order to avoid the blinding sight, but no heads were turned.

Noah gasped for air to be free from the taste of blood he felt in his mouth, but no palate was censored.

And then there was Rex, whose mind drew blank while he simply felt nothing.

Nothing save for the vehemence of unadulterated rage developing from the innermost core of his very being. A swarm of thoughts consumed his mind as he hid behind his plasmatic shield, desperately attempting to find any possibility in the deepest crevice of his mind that she could have survived the blast, but he was unable to find any. And staring at the explosion through the goggles over his eyes certainly wasn't helping either, nor would it have made no difference if they were rose tinted in the proverbial sense. He was the only person capable of surviving such a blast, and he felt his heart freeze over as he finally came to the conclusion that she had indefinitely perished.

And it was all. His. Fault.

Granted, the transaction that had occurred was an impossible one for the average human to react to, but having capabilities that extended far past that of the average human he truly felt that he was responsible for not dealing with it. The moment that the mercenary began the charge, Rex's mind seemed to draw blank and the only thing he could think of doing was protect himself. It was a disgusting act of self-preservation, which was one of the first thoughts he had to himself right before the subsequent ones came rolling in like hard crashing waves afterward.

"I was fast enough to summon my 「Block Party」, wasn't I? How the Hell could I have been so slow? First Six tells me that it's an issue that I'm as fast as I am, but what difference does it make if I can dodge a bullet or throw dozens of punches per second if I can't even deal with a simple terrorist in time! Why am I so useless!"

"Why didn't you jump in and stop him, Rex? You could've use your 「Smack Hands」, 「Boogie Pack」, 「Blast Caster」, anything! Anything would have worked!"

"If I'd've used any build other than my 「Block Party」, then she would still be here!"

"This is all your fault! This Is All Your Fault, Rex! If only you took care of him the first opportunity you had, you know that you are so much more capable than that, Rex!"

"I know, I know! If only I took care of him sooner. If only he didn't have control over that mech! If Only I Aimed My Sword Lower—!"

The arrival of the final thought shook his very core. He immediately commanded that his ideas cease commencing, but he knew that such thoughts would only to continue to haunt him later on. It was just so incredibly uncharacteristic of him, as even though there has been several instances in his past when he would yearn for the ecstasy of severing ties with those who have wronged him—a list that nearly all the people he knew had been on at some point or another—not once was it ever truly his intention to actually eliminate them! Not even the likes of those such as Quarry, Black Knight, Hunter Cain, or even Van Kliess, who all topped the list as permanent residents, ever received so much disdain from Rex in a single moment. It was never anything more than a passing sensation despite the fact that there was a personal vendetta to be had with every single one of them, which was why he couldn't bear the thought of allowing such rage to consume him. That is, no more than he could the thought of losing a friend.

So it unpleasantly lingered in his mind, sure to haunt him in the unforeseeable future.

Time gradually began to resume and all of the agents cries, motions, and actions began to come into fruition, the event that transpired before them to become nothing more than a memory of the distant past...

But as Rex continued to stare at the eruption ahead of him, his spectacles began tracking something right above the apex of his natural vision. It appeared that a separate entity was in the presence of the suicide-bomb, but there was no conceivable way that should have been possible within the allotted time frame of its occurrence.

Time continued to accelerate in sync with the quickening the beat of his own heart, Rex using his own eyes to follow the suggestion of his advanced goggles as he began identifying the unknown object. His heart was drumming against his chest, time nearly proceeding at the rate of natural motion but still sluggish while he was trying to catch up with reality—that of the natural world, and the one that was currently unfolding before him.

It appeared that an object was indeed coming from the epicenter of the explosion at an incredible velocity, something that had disengaged from the jet prior. Rex's head turned upwards in tandem with the rest of his members who also followed along, and as it began dipping from above the radius of the blast the group collectively grinned and rejoiced to see that it was a seat that appeared from the midst! Or rather, the ejection of a seat with a still living Kenwyn gingerly clinging onto it as she propelled upward into the air!

Kenwyn was still alive!

The feeling of dread, anguish, fear and loss had left as quickly as they had arrived. And though experiencing the shift of such contrasting emotions was unbearable for all members the group, they were all joyous to see their commanding agent alive and well! But their shared state of gratitude would yet again revert to one of panic as time continued to progress normally and they realized that it would not be long before she would begin careening back toward the street at over 150 miles per hour—they were engaged in a high speed chase, after all.

Rex acted without a moment's hesitation in withdrawing his force field, following up by slanting his hoverboard so that the airflow would propel him backwards while he calculated her estimated landing position. He had planned to intercept Kenwyn before she reached the ground, who was already at the peak of her trajectory and beginning to descend quickly. She finally opened her eyes after her seemingly miraculous ejection and immediately took notice of the mechanic spreading his arms wide in anticipation of catching her. Reading the body-language of her partner, she abandoned her seat and fell straight into his embrace. Though the landing was rough for her, she was secure in his grasp and sighed a breath of relief as Rex looked down on her with tears welling in his eyes—though she couldn't really tell past the orange pigment of his goggles.

"How nice of you to drop by, Kenwyn. How're you hanging?" He questioned with a shaky voice that betrayed his attempt to conceal his emotions. It was a bad habit of his—using humor the way he did in order to cope with situations— but it was a habit that he would surely take to his grave before anything could be done about it.

"Fine, considering." She responded as they flew adjacent to the tanks beside them. The hatch to Bobo's tank began opening up to them right as Rex felt his contraption disassembling itself against his will, Noah immediately acting on the assumption that his friend would be in something of a perplexed state at that moment. And while Rex did indeed have a stronger grasp on his emotional state right then in comparison to how he managed it in the past, there where still times when he couldn't control all of the complex feelings he felt within. Everybody else knew this well, and certainly nobody blamed him at that moment as they were fairing no better themselves at that moment. And so, with a quick burst of speed Rex and Kenwyn flew into the tank as the 「Sky Slyder」 crumbled from beneath his feet.

"Rex, Kenwyn!" Noah alarmed as he quickly closed the hatch and jumped back from his seat to pick up the pair from off the ground, giving Rex reassuring pats on the back right before clasping Kenwyn in a tight embrace for an uncomfortable amount of time. She sheepishly slugged away after telling him that was enough physical contact only to be jumped by both of the boys who held her in a firm group-hug. They seemed reluctant to release her even after she confided them both that she was fine, but then Bobo hit some miscellaneous object and set the both of their heads toward the roof. She picked up the both of them the moment after and then willingly took the seat next to Bobo after he extended her the opportunity to take a break from all of the commotion.

"Y'know for a second there we all thought that you didn't make it. Don't 'tcha ever go scaring us like that again, you hear me?" The simian stated while she sat next to him, with a false grin that acted as a facade for his vulnerable state.

"Don't you worry Bobo, I don't think we're going to end up in a situation like that any time soon." She replied understandingly, scratching the back of his head as she did.

"I just hope we're able to keep to procedure on future missions, but that's nearly impossible to do with the equipment we currently have. And speaking of which—", she groaned as she looked back at the disappearing rubble and realized that the jet she was issued was absolutely totaled, dreading the heavy piles of paperwork that she would subsequently have to file out after the conclusion of the mission. It was as if a part of her died inside—which in itself was ironic in context of the situation.

She jumped at the alarm abruptly interrupting her thoughts, answering it promptly in order to pacify the members of the calling trio who all clamored over one another in order to convince themselves that she was safe and sound. But it seemed that no matter how much talking she did, she were unable to alter the opinion of Skwydd who was insistent on having the tanks stop so that Cricket could come over and check for any injuries.

"Alright, but do you know just how worried you had us, Kenny? First you let Rex join the fray, and then you do that stupid-awesome thing bringing in the jet right above the street—"

"I know you guys are worried, but Skwydd— "

"And then the guy just fucking charges at you like some sort of suicide-bomber and then the explosion happens, and then we thought you were gone until we saw you flying out the top—!"

"You're not even listening to me Skwydd. Skwydd!" She tried to say with an authoritative tone that instead resulted in a laugh.

"Listen to me. I mean it when I say I'm fine, and besides, we can't afford to stop right now since we have to report all of the damage that was done by that guy. It's the least we can do, if we're no longer able to determine what his true motive was..." she stated in a more somber tone.

Rex, who was previously eyeing down Kenwyn, shifted in place while he stood with his back to the wall, then facing the floor of the tank with his arms crossed. He carried an indignant expression on his face as well which caught the attention of Noah who was present on the opposite wall of the tank, asking what seemed to be bothering his friend.

"I messed up bad." He spoke in a hushed whisper, as not to draw any arguments from the remainder of his friends who continued their own discussion over the communication line.

"I don't know what it was, but I just sort of...blanked out for a second there. My head was just not clearly in the game. I could've used any one of my abilities to keep 'Crazy Ivan' down the moment he came flying at her, but instead I instinctively brought out my 「Block Party」 and only thought about protecting myself..." He stated, not recalling when—or even if—he gave his nanites the directive to construct the build that protected himself instead of dealing with the situation at hand.

"Rex, you can't blame yourself for not being able to control that. That situation was beyond anybody's control, including yours." He argued.

"That's not good enough, Noah." He snapped back, which thankfully had no effect on Noah who was already tempered to deal with such a degree of hostility from his friend after previous experiences they shared in the past.

"She could've actually died, and I would've been the only one able to do anything about it. I can't live with that kind of conscience on my mind."

"It's not your responsibility to play God, Rex. You might have so much more power than any one person in this world can control, but it doesn't mean that you have to handle that same degree of responsibility. I'm pretty sure that's the reason why you disbanded the Meta-Nanites in the first place, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point! So long as I have these powers, it's my duty to protect people from the things that the police, the military, or even Providence are unable to. If I can't even do that much, what good am I?"

"You two aren't talking about me, are you?" Kenwyn asked from the front as she turned around to face the pair, having discretely listened to every word of their shared conversation. Rex scoffed as he prepared a counter, not knowing entirely if she was attentive of the words he uttered, but acting on the good hope that she wasn't.

"You wish. We're just taking a moment to appreciate just how awesome I am." Rex haphazardly lied as he brought his arms to his head. Kenwyn, of course, was unconvinced by Rex's attempt and furrowed her brows in response.

"Rex—"

"Don't. Please don't." Kenwyn managed to sigh before being interrupted by Rex.

"It's just—I don't really feel like talking about it right now, alright?" He murmured before looking back at the ground with dejection.

"Fine. But at least let me have the chance to thank you for what you did back there. We may not have been able to apprehend the mercenary, but you were still able to save me. That still counts for something." Rex looked back at her with a defeated grin, thankful that she was putting forth so much effort in trying to cheer him up, but still still of the opinion that her words carried no true merit to them.

"I think you're giving me too much credit, Kenwyn. All I did was catch you."

"No, I mean before that." she stated to his confusion, which so visibly distorted his face that she felt the compelled to explain to him what she had meant.

"...Don't you remember? You used one of your machines to help me eject from out of the jet the moment he started flying toward me. My hands were on the joysticks the entire time—there's no way I could've reacted quickly enough."

"What do you mean I used one my machines? The only ones I had out were my 「Block Party」 and 「Sky Slyder」. I didn't think of using any of my machines to help you out at the time." He guiltily admitted.

"Okay, now I'm not sure if you're messing with me or if you're actually unsure—or maybe I'm the one who's getting this all wrong—but I distinctively remember that the instant he came flying at me there was some sort of bright yellow flash behind me and then you appeared in the reflection with some sort of build we've never seen before. You reached out for the ejection switch, and then I was out before I could really tell what had just happened." Rex propped up with interest.

"Wait, you mentioned something about a new build?"

"Yeah. I couldn't really get a good look at it, but for the second or so that I caught a glimpse of it it looked like a golden pair of gauntlets. Almost identical to your smack hands, actually, except it looked more like a skeleton or early prototype of that build more than anything else."

Rex worryingly stared at her for a second before beginning to laugh to himself as he brushed aside her comments.

"I think you're still suffering from the adrenaline rush, Kenwyn. It's not like I can make any builds that can 'teleport me' or have me be in 'two places' at once. But imagine the sorts if things I could do with those powers." He mindlessly thought aloud. Rex was trying his best to move on from the sheer absurdity of the conversation, though the other members of the team—including the Hong Kong trio—wanted to press the exploration of what potentially may have been a newfound ability, even if it was one that had been activated subconsciously.

But before anyone could express their own theories or opinions, Rex felt the vibration of his phone accompany the ringtone he had set for his girlfriend. A song played by the band Orange played for less than a second before he pressed the screen and answered to Circe, who spoke out before Rex even had the chance of saying something ridiculous as he always tended to do when she was on the other end of the line. But even then, she spoke with such a sense of urgency that even Rex was prompted to listen to her words without any sort of interruption.

"Rex! I'm not sure if Kenwyn and the rest of you guys are aware of this, but there's another mech heading the direction of the NuCorps building! I couldn't catch where it came from, but it's making its way up via the same highway Bobo's tank took just a couple of moments ago!"

Though there was the usual goofy grin on Rex's face when he picked up the call from his significant other, he quickly appeared to be serious and determined while she continued delivering her message.

"Another one? Where are you getting this information from?" He requested to know while he put his phone on his speaker so that the rest of the group could hear, Kenwyn picking up on his queue and opened the communication channel to the neighboring tank so that the Hong Kong gang could listen along to the conference as well.

"It's on a live feed from a news helicopter." She explained while looking at a television monitor from the confines of her room at Providence.

"Like I said, it's a mech completely identical to the one you guys were just fighting except this time it's being escorted by a bunch of pirate-looking vehicles. The person piloting it is moving around like an absolute madman, but I think their objective is still the same. Do you need any confirmation on my intel?"

The two tanks swerved around right as he opened his mouth to speak, pausing momentarily before he began again.

"No, I trust your judgement. Thanks for the heads up Circe."

"Wait, Rex! Before you hang up—" she blurted right as Rex's thumb was above the prompt to end the call, who insteaded guided it so that the conversation would become private once again.

"I saw what happened with the explosion."

"Ugh, did you?" He groaned while using his free hand to cover his embarrasment-ridden face, wishing he had just ended the call right there.

"Yes, I did. And please promise me that you'll play it safe out there, all right? It's bad enough that I'm temporarily stuck here on the sidelines, the last thing I need is for you to be joining me missing one of your limbs." She teased.

She had temporarily been suspended on a medical leave due to a complication on the previous mission that had rendered her hospitalized for an entire day, and even though she assured Dr. Holiday that she had recovered from her injuries the one after, the leading Providence scientist didn't want her agent going out on any other missions until she returned from her mission with Six and had the chance to inspect the injuries personally.

"Alright, I'll be more careful." He solemnly swore while wiping his face.

"That's all I needed to hear. And also, can you...can you promise that we'll talk when you get back?"

"About what?" He questioned, caught off guard by her sudden request.

"We don't have the time to discuss it right now. Rampaging mech, remember?"

"Right. Sorry." He sheepishly apologized.

"Take care, kick their asses, etcetera etcetera. Bye Rex, love you."

"Love you too, bye." He resounded before ending the call. Though Bobo couldn't help but stiffle a giggle in response to his words, he chose to ignore the gesture and asked his commander what their next move was. She thought upon the question for a bit before finally coming up with a response, pressing the communication button one final time to provide her commands to the group one final time.

"Make a course straight for the NuCorps building. I have a plan, but it's gonna involve Rex dealing with the mech all by himself. Are you okay with that, hero?"

He gave a small simper before giving a quick nod in response. She seemed pleased with the response, and began glancing ahead at the approaching group in front of them through the glass of the front screen.

"Alright. We're not going to suffer any fatalities this mission, and neither are they. So listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once."

Don't you guys worry, Kenwyn is safe and sound, which now that I think of it is such a great title that I'm changing to it from the previous title 'Hide and Seek'! It's probably better reserved for a future chapter, anyway.

Now, as for why this chapter took so long to release: It was very difficult to write. Truthfully speaking, the previous intro I had made it unbearingly boring to write and read, hence the two week hiatus I took on it even though I started it right after the conclusion of the previous one. Oops. But what makes that statement so much better is the fact that I wrote the bulk of this chapter's content in the past three days alone, and now this may even be my favorite chapter yet with all of the foreshadowing I've added.

As for what it is that I'm foreshadowing, feel free to theorize! There are three major things that I've hinted at, one which you will immediately see in the next chapter, and the rest of which will be introduced later on in the series.

Also: This is my longest chapter yet, even excluding these notes! So on that note, please tell me if the length for these installments are too long, short, or just the right porridge.

That will be all for now, see you again soon!


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